CLOSING ARGUMENT EXAMPLE: Presenting a Theory of …

1 CLOSING ARGUMENT example : Presenting a Theory of Defense Throughout the CaseStephen B. BrightSouthern Center for Human Rights83 Poplar Street, , Atlanta, GA 30303-2122(404) 688-1202 ! What follows are excerpts from theproceedings in the case of State of Georgia Anthony Brooks tried in 1991 in theSuperior Court of Morgan County, Georgia. Theycontain discussion of many of the facts of thecase; they are included to illustrate how they , an African American, kidnapped,raped, robbed and killed a 23-year old whitewoman.

2 He abducted her from her home onemorning and forced at gunpoint to drive him inher car to an area where she was raped and died of a single gunshot wound to the was not arrested for several weeks afterthe crime. Before his arrest, some of the state switnesses had identified persons other thanBrooks as the one who committed the the trial, there had been much pretriallitigation over the admissibility of testimony ofeyewitness identification. The judge ultimatelyruled that testimony regarding some highlysuggestive identifications would be allowed.

3 Theremainder of the state s case was based upon theBrooks confession, a lift of his fingerprint fromthe victim s car, the testimony of a witnesses whogave the Brooks a ride from the area of the crimeto the other side of the confession, William Brooks admitted thekidnapping, robbery and rape, but claimed that thegun went off accidentally when he pointed it atthe victim to make her stop screaming after therape. A pretrial motion to suppress the confessionwas defense decided not to arguemisidentification at the guilt phase, and, instead,to acknowledge Mr.

4 Brooks responsibility for thedeath, but assert, based on his account of whathappened in the confession, that the gundischarged accidentally and that he should befound not guilty of murder with malice because hedid not have the requisite intent and mitigating evidence to be presented by thedefense was evidence of Mr. Brooks prematurebirth, prenatal injuries, limited intelligence(Brooks had an IQ of 75), and neglect and abuseduring childhood. Mr. Brooks had a prior criminalrecord, introduced by the state, and had twicebeen in prison.

5 During his first period ofincarceration he had many disciplinary reports,but during his second period of imprisonment hisadjustment was defense themes for the penalty phase were:(1) acknowledge responsibility for the crime,its wrongfulness, and the loss to the victim sfamily and friends.(2) both life imprisonment and the deathpenalty are severe punishments; the jury was todecide between them.(3) life imprisonment instead of death wassufficient punishment because:(a) Mr. Brooks limited intelligence, his abuseand neglect during childhood should be taken intoaccount in deciding punishment; Brooks could notbe held to the same standard as an intelligentperson who had learned proper values growing up;(b) Mr.

6 Brooks good adjustment to prisondemonstrated that it was not necessary to resort tothe death penalty; (c) there is at least a lingering question aboutwhether the shooting was intentional remainingfrom the guilt phase, where the jury was out for anentire day.(d) a death sentence would result in needlesssuffering on the Brooks family, who had anotherfamily member fighting in the Gulf War that wasgoing on that the time of the defense also sought to do what it could totake the sting out of the prosecution s emphasis onthe horror of the crime. The theme at the guiltphase that the gun went off accidentally fitwell with the Theory at the penalty phase themurder was not so heinous and cold blooded thatthe death penalty was the only penalty for onewho had suffered the abuse and had the limitedfunctioning of Mr.

7 Case was tried by Stephen B. Bright andRuth E. Friedman, Southern Center for HumanRights, George Kendall, NAACP Legal DefenseFund, Inc., and Gary Parker of Columbus, SELECTIONThe jury questionnaires required jurors to listthe number of children, their ages, etc., andmembership in following is a sampling of some of the voirdire questions that were asked in anticipation ofthe defense themes at the penalty were also asked about deathqualification, attitudes toward crime, knowledgeof the case, race, and other factors.

8 As is alwaysthe case in voir dire, some open ended questionswere asked to obtain information. Other, closedquestions were asked to nail down various you spend much time with your children?Is there anything more important to you thanthat time?Do you think it makes a difference in yourchildren s growth and development? How?Did you get to spend much time with youparents?[Questioning responsive to the answerscontinued to develop this area.]I notice from your jury questionnaire that youare a member of the Morgan County Men s you tell me what that organization does?

9 [The club was founded by African Americanmen to help African American youth in thecommunity. Questions revealed that the club wasformed because of concern about the lack ofparental supervision of some youth in thecommunity Note that this answer will be usedlater in CLOSING ARGUMENT at the penalty phase.]Do you find that you are making a difference inthese kids lives?Have you ever been in a situation where youhad to decide if another human being would liveor die?Have you thought about what kind ofinformation you would want to know about thatperson before you decided whether he lives ordies?

10 If you were chosen as a juror on this case,would you want to hear evidence about Mr. childhood, about any difficulties he mighthave had?Do you think that sort of information ought tobe taken into account in deciding punishment?[Many jurors indicated that they did not thinkevidence regarding a difficult upbringing shouldbe taken into account. Challenges for cause weremade. Some were excused; some wererehabilitated by the judge, but the answer couldbe taken into account by the defense in exercisingperemptory challenges.][Once this line was completed, the followingquestion was asked:]If you were selected to be on this jury, wouldyou want to know everything about Mr.